[Bob2]

Bob2, I bought the car in mint condition. It was five years old with 29,000 miles.
I have been driving it hard, as Ubering a bunch.
This is the second time I have added two quarts of oil. I thought synthetic oil burns up more quickly.

I appreciate what you are saying... I'm just surprised at the oil consumption.
My truck, at 109,000 miles uses less than 1/2 quart during the oil change interval. It has always been run on synthetic blend that Ford recommends. Have done a lot of those miles in stop and go traffic. Long distance towing an enclosed trailer too.
Maybe what you are seeing is normal for BMW but my son's 325i with same miles as yours does not use anywhere near what yours is going through.
As was mentioned you might want to have a compression and vacuum test done. I suggest you check oil level daily and keep it topped off.


Good luck!

[zybar]

Bob2, I bought the car in mint condition. It was five years old with 29,000 miles.
I have been driving it hard, as Ubering a bunch.
This is the second time I have added two quarts of oil. I thought synthetic oil burns up more quickly.

No way you should be burning that much oil.

Neither my 2011 335 or 2009 M3 goes through oil like that.

Sorry to say, but something isn't right.

George

[jaywills]

I drove a '91 M5 for twenty years and its engine was known to burn a bit of oil.  Never more than a quart between oil changes (5-8K).  I agree, something out of the ordinary is going on.  Good luck, they're great fun cars.  Cordially,

[Bob in St. Louis]

My Chevy with 216,000 miles uses one quart between intervals.
Check your owners manual, some engines have specs for "acceptable" oil consumption.
I've seen some as high as one quart in 1500 miles!

[MichiganMike]

What is normal oil consumption on a BMW?  Consuming a quart of oil every thousand miles may be deemed normal by BMW.     

“Oil consumption is normal on all engines,” BMW spokesman Hector Arellano-Belloc said in an e-mailed statement. “BMW vehicles have long intervals between oil changes (10,000 miles). BMW engines (excluding the BMW M) may consume up to one quart of engine oil per 750 miles under certain driving conditions.” He added that BMW’s M performance models may consume even more oil than that.

A good practice on a BMW is to check the oil level frequently.  If you plan to keep a BMW long term changing the oil more frequently than BMW recommends may be prudent.

Proper break-in of the BMW engine in the first thousand miles is important to longevity.  If the original owner routinely revved the engine above 4000 rpm during the first thousand miles, this may lead to problems later.  Buyer beware even on low mileage used BMWs which may have been driven hard without proper maintenance.

Low battery voltage can create problems for the computer controls in the BMW.  So if prior to battery replacement the voltage was too low, this may generate errors in the monitoring systems.  The intelligent charging system used on BMW's does not always fully charge the battery depending on how you drive.  I periodically use a battery tender to fully charge the battery in my 2010 BMW, which helps prolong battery life and avoid spurious error codes.

BMW also advises a new battery must be properly registered so the charging system will properly charge it.  Failure to do so may shorten the battery life.  The registration of the battery with the car's software is one of the things BMW service does which raises the cost of a replacement battery at the dealer, but others may have the equipment to register the battery.  Some claim the battery registration is not necessary, but again this may vary depending on how one drives.

BMWs require more care and feeding than many cars.  If reliability is your priority and you want to minimize cost of ownership, there are better choices. 

I endorse the comment that there are BMW forums that may provide more knowledgeable guidance to less experienced BMW owners.  I believe a 2010 328 is from the so-called E90 series.  The following forum for E90 owners may be helpful:  http://www.e90post.com/forums/

Good luck.

[MichiganMike]

The link below details some potential battery problems in a BMW 3 series and other symptoms it may cause.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=573740

[Bob in St. Louis]

BMW engines (excluding the BMW M) may consume up to one quart of engine oil per 750 miles under certain driving conditions.” He added that BMW’s M performance models may consume even more oil than that.

WHAT!?!?!    Are you serious?
At Volvo, we're putting pistons in cars that consume a quart in 1500 miles. But from what I've seen, it's due to the fact they forgot the ring gaps should be 180 from each other and not an actual failed component. 

[timind]

If you're an Uber driver you definitely need a different car. Not an over-engineered BMW. Man I hated my Z-4.

My daughter just bought a 328xi even though several people tried to talk her out of it. Just a matter of time.

[bearman2]

My 2000 4-runner has over 100,000 miles on it and I change my oil every 6,000 miles. I use synthetic and it is hard to tell if it has used any oil.

[RDavidson]

My 2000 4-runner has over 100,000 miles on it and I change my oil every 6,000 miles. I use synthetic and it is hard to tell if it has used any oil.

Tacomas and 4-runners of that era are great vehicles. I had a 1999 Tacoma 4 x 4 with 5 speed. Super reliable. Super easy to maintain and work on. A buddy of mine and I did all the maintenance on it with a Haynes manual, floor jacks, and a hand full of tools. It never needed anything other than normal / scheduled maintenance. I miss that truck sometimes.

[zybar]

If you're an Uber driver you definitely need a different car. Not an over-engineered BMW. Man I hated my Z-4.

My daughter just bought a 328xi even though several people tried to talk her out of it. Just a matter of time.

I had my 2011 335i with Xdrive for 3 years and not a single issue (even with my doing some "upgrades").

The reliability on the "newer" 3 series is actually  quite good.

George

[RDavidson]

Bob2, I bought the car in mint condition. It was five years old with 29,000 miles.
I have been driving it hard, as Ubering a bunch.
This is the second time I have added two quarts of oil. I thought synthetic oil burns up more quickly.

Yes, synthetic can burn more quickly. From what I understand, synthetic is so slick that the rings have a harder time thoroughly wiping it from the cylinder walls. I think the problem gets worse as the oil sheers down with use. With a car that already consumes a bit of oil as normal, you may need oil changes more often, particularly with a lot of city driving. If you're changing your oil every 5-7k miles, you might dial it back to 3k-5k miles. Then again.....if you're putting a quart in the car like every 1k miles, that should negate a lot of the problem with oil sheer.

[DaveC113]

Also, oil viscosity is getting lower which makes blowby more of an issue.

My 2010 WRX went through a quart every 3k miles or so, my '14 WRX came with synthetic brand new and does not use oil. Not bad for a turbo motor making 18 lbs of boost! If Subaru can figure it out with a high output turbo car other car companies should be able to make a NA car that uses none at all... 1 quart per 750 miles is a problem imo, not sure how it could even get through emissions burning that much oil... unless... 

IMO... German cars are for people who lease, never go out of warranty and don't mind spending 3x + what they need to on transportation. For those who purchase these cars... see RDavidson's post above.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Emissions is a good point. At that rate, I'm sure the PPM would be increased considerably!
Another good point about the blowby. I assume some of the BMW engines are a 0W ("zero")?

[screener]

Bob2, I bought the car in mint condition. It was five years old with 29,000 miles.
I have been driving it hard, as Ubering a bunch.
This is the second time I have added two quarts of oil. I thought synthetic oil burns up more quickly.

Here's a good starting point http://www.blackstone-labs.com/
One more http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

[drewm]

Tacomas and 4-runners of that era are great vehicles. I had a 1999 Tacoma 4 x 4 with 5 speed. Super reliable. Super easy to maintain and work on. A buddy of mine and I did all the maintenance on it with a Haynes manual, floor jacks, and a hand full of tools. It never needed anything other than normal / scheduled maintenance. I miss that truck sometimes.

My 2003 V8 4runner has 195k miles and eats pretty close to no oil between changes. Still on the original engine and transmission. Still runs like new, and I don't baby it. There's also quite a lot of 4runners on the forums with over 400k miles that exhibit no issues. On the Tundra forums there's quite a few with over 600k miles on the original engine and transmission that are daily driven with no issues.

Here's more great examples of Toyota's quality:
http://www.thesmokingtire.com/2014/matt-just-bought-a-900000-mile-lexus-ls400/
http://www.hybridcars.com/toyota-prius-taxi-running-strong-with-600000-miles-and-original-battery/
http://www.tundraheadquarters.com/blog/toyota-tundra-666803-miles/

[stlrman]

Code read : Cylinder 4 misfire.
Spark plug issue?
My mechanic was saying some type of plug needs to be replaced .

[drewm]

Code read : Cylinder 4 misfire.
Spark plug issue?

Blown head gasket, coil pack, spark plug, or injector in that order usually.

Is there coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant? That's an indication of a blown head gasket.

[RDavidson]

Plug might need to be replaced because it's so gunked up with oil and carbon...which would point to a larger issue, ie how it got so bad to start with.

[DaveC113]

My 2003 V8 4runner has 195k miles and eats pretty close to no oil between changes. Still on the original engine and transmission. Still runs like new, and I don't baby it. There's also quite a lot of 4runners on the forums with over 400k miles that exhibit no issues. On the Tundra forums there's quite a few with over 600k miles on the original engine and transmission that are daily driven with no issues.

Here's more great examples of Toyota's quality:
http://www.thesmokingtire.com/2014/matt-just-bought-a-900000-mile-lexus-ls400/
http://www.hybridcars.com/toyota-prius-taxi-running-strong-with-600000-miles-and-original-battery/
http://www.tundraheadquarters.com/blog/toyota-tundra-666803-miles/

Friends of mine have V8 4Runner and Tundras, they are nice vehicles except for the fuel economy! You're lucky to get 15 mpg out of a Toyota V8...